Konigun Ninjitsu is all but destroyed

It has come to my attention that many if not most of the members of this often reviewd group have resigned. Many of them posted letters of resignation and in a few cases, there is evidence of criminal behavior. If any of the people who posted these letters have evidence or experience of sexual abuse or child abuse, they are in a legal situation they must consider: you should report these crimes.

As one of the people who was sued, not once but twice by these people, I have strong feelings about what I have read from these people. My worst fears were realized, all kinds of criminal behavior and abuse have been documented by former members. I take no pleasure in being right, people's lives have been irrevocably changed and damaged.

I applaud bullshido and e-budo and other forums for giving the light of day to these problems. It might have saved some folks great pain in their lives.

Attached is a copy of the letters that were written:

I had said in a conversation had at the hill yesterday that I would wait 2 weeks to send out this email. Since then I have realized that this would be a mistake and have decided to send it out today. The following individuals have officially retired from the style: Zach Bennett Beth Bennett Ryan Bennett David Ishee Paula Ishee Thomas Medina Kevin Posey Patrick Duckworth Dan Ford Bonnie Specht Sean Cronin Robert Nichols The following is by no means an exhaustive list of problems and grievances. It was compiled by all of us. -------------------------------------------- Domestic Abuse Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone. Physical Abuse: Hitting, slapping, shoving, grabbing, pinching, biting, hair-pulling, biting, etc. Physical abuse also includes denying a partner medical care or forcing alcohol and/or drug use. Sexual Abuse: Coercing or attempting to coerce any sexual contact or behavior without consent. Sexual abuse includes, but is certainly not limited to marital rape, attacks on sexual parts of the body, forcing sex after physical violence has occurred, or treating one in a sexually demeaning manner. Emotional Abuse: Undermining an individual's sense of self-worth and/or self-esteem. This may include, but is not limited to constant criticism, diminishing one's abilities, name-calling, or damaging one's relationship with his or her children. Economic Abuse: Making or attempting to make an individual financially dependent by maintaining total control over financial resources, withholding one's access to money, or forbidding one's attendance at school or employment. Psychological Abuse: Causing fear by intimidation; threatening physical harm to self, partner, children, or partner's family or friends; destruction of pets and property; and forcing isolation from family, friends, or school and/or work. Abusers may aim to avoid household chores or exercise total control of family finances. Abusers can be very manipulative, often recruiting friends, law officers and court officials, even the victim's family to their side, while shifting blame to the victim. Gaslighting is an action which, depending on the exact circumstances of the situation involved, could be considered a form of intimidation, torture, harassment, or psychological abuse. It is a technique used to either scare a person, or to cause them to appear to discredit their own judgment or even sanity in front of others. One definition of gaslighting is "an increasing frequency of systematically withholding factual information from, and/or providing false information to, the gaslightee- having the gradual effect of making them anxious, confused, and less able to trust their own memory and perception." Relational aggression, also known as covert bullying is a type of aggression in which harm is caused through damage to relationships or social status within a group rather than physical violence. Gossip - Where the abuser tells others personal information about the victim. Lies - Where the abuser lies about the victim to others. Betrayal - Where the abuser breaks agreements with the victim. Isolation - Where the abuser prevents the victim from socializing with the victim's friends. Exclusion - Where the abuser prevents the victim from socializing with the abuser's friends. Humiliation - Where the abuser humiliates or shames the victim in front of others. These are some of the warning signs that may indicate abuse: Physical harm of any kind Attempts to control aspects of an individual's life (e.g., how one dresses, who one's friends are, what one says, etc.) Humiliation Coercing and/or threats of physical harm to an individual or those close to him/her. Demands to know where an individual is at all times Growing up witnessing an abusive relationship, and/or was abused as a child An individual "rages" when they are hurt, shamed, or are in jeopardy of losing control in the relationship. Honeymoon phase Characterized by affection, apology, and apparent end of violence, with assurances that it will never happen again. During this stage the abuser feels overwhelming feelings of remorse and sadness, or pretends to. Some abusers walk away from the situation, but most shower their victims with love and affection. There may be self harming by the abuser to gain sympathy from the victim and threats of suicide if the victim leaves are common. Abusers are frequently so convincing, and victims so eager for the relationship to improve that victims, who are often worn down and confused by longstanding abuse, stay in the relationship. Tension building phase Characterized by poor communication, tension, fear of causing outbursts. During this stage the victims try to calm the batterer down, to avoid any major violent confrontations. Acting-out phase Characterized by outbursts of violent, abusive incidents. During this stage the batterer attempts to dominate his/her partner(victim), with the use of domestic violence. Although it is easy to see the outbursts of the Acting-out Phase as abuse, even the more pleasant behaviours of the Honeymoon Phase serve to perpetuate the abuse. Example Incidents: 1. One night I was walking into the living room and Bryce asked me where David and Therese were. I told her she was downstairs filing and he was working on the computer. I then added in a playful tone "but really they're mostly talking. You know them!". Bryce then shoved the coffee table into the entertainment center, breaking the doors. He yelled that he was tired of all the backstabbing that Candace, Therese, and I had been doing (though this was the first I'd heard of any of it). He called everyone into the living room and told us that because of me, we'd be up all night cleaning and he was going to do a 'military inspection' the next day, and we didn't want to know what he'd do if we failed! He assigned each of us a room so he'd know who to blame if it wasn't right. We stayed up all night cleaning, but he never inspected anything. I remember David and Brian telling me that it was okay, everyone at some point had gotten the whole group punished before, and I shouldn't feel bad. 2. A few days after I moved in, Jay made Candace wait for the bathroom while he took a shower. He had been working all day on Charles Foster's roof and told her that since he'd worked harder and longer than she had, and because he was a Meijin, she had to wait. She, of course, went straight to Bryce and told him what Jay had said. Bryce then called a gurupu and had everyone gather in the living room. (I, though I wasn't actually in Konigun at this point, joined them because I didn't know what else to do) Bryce said he was tired of everyone taking advantage of Candace and he made her Meiyo Shidoshi so everyone HAD to respect her. He was going to make everyone sleep outside while he and Candace slept inside, but, of course, never followed through. I remember Jay cried the next morning. 3. One fine summer day there was a large group of us training downstairs in the store. It was hot so we took a water break. We were all hanging out on the deck out front chatting and drinking our water when Bryce came outside. He yelled at us and accused us of not training at all. He demoted everyone to Hinin except for Brian who he made Shiroto so he could be 'in charge' of all of us. He collected all our sashes and put them on a shelf on the entertainment center and gave us all white sashes. He then made everyone go out into the parking lot out front for PT. Bryce, Chris, and Jay paced around us yelling and belittling us right out there where all the neighbors and people driving by on the highway could see. Beth, Therese, Candace, and I couldn't do 'girl' pushups, we had to be strong and not be 'pussies'. This was the day I moved out. 4. Bryce was sitting in his chair one evening and asked Candace to bring him some sausage. She heated him up a couple of patties and put them on a saucer. She brought it to him with a fork. He tried to use the fork to cut the sausage, but ended up spilling them on this front. He threw his tea into the wall across the room, shattering the mason jar it was in and getting tea and glass everywhere. He made everyone clean it up while he ranted about Candace bringing him such a small plate and 'look at his hands! These are man hands! He couldn't use that little plate! Bring him a real plate! "I'm a man!"' 5. Bryce had recently been describing a Yakuza punishment to people. I had not heard about it yet, nor had several other people, so one night while a bunch of people were over, Bryce decided to have a little fun with us. He started acting angry and got his medallion and a Wakizashi out. He stabbed the wakizashi into the coffee table and hung his medallion from it. He told Greg that he had until the medallion stopped swinging to cut off the tip of his pinkie finger or he'd be killed. Poor Greg didn't have any idea what was going on and sort of laughed a bit like 'Yeah right!'. Bryce really pulled out all the stops then and started really getting angry that Greg wouldn't do what he told him to do. He started warning him that the medallion was slowing down and he'd better hurry up and do it. Greg really looked like he was about to do it when Bryce told him he was joking 'this time'. Everyone kind of laughed it off and Greg was like 'Wow, I was really about to do it!'. Bryce then told us that that was going to be the punishment he used for serious transgressions. 6. David was riding with Jay, Bryce, and Candace on the way up to MA for a camp (this is before David moved in). Bryce told Jay to pull over because he had to go to the bathroom. Jay pulled over on an exit and Bryce got out. He peed on his pants. He yelled at Jay, blaming him because he had parked by rocks, and that hurt his feet so he couldn't concentrate on what he was doing and he peed too early. He then made Candace clean it up. 7. David, Brian, and I used to eat in the kitchen because there wasn't room for us to sit in the living room. We would chat and sit or lean on the counter while we ate. One day it finally bothered Bryce enough and he yelled at us, telling us that we should be honored to sit on the floor and eat at his feet. We weren't allowed to eat in the kitchen anymore. 8. One night Bryce got up in the middle of the night and went into the kitchen. Someone had left a piece of food out. Bryce got everyone up and made them go out back to do PT. For about an hour he had Brian and David doing worm crawls in the ditch in the rain with Candace and Therese on their backs, in several inches of water. The whole time he was kicking water at them and yelling at them, threatening to pee in the water (among other things). 9. While I lived there, Therese drove my car to work. One day she drove it into the house. I told Bryce I didn't want her to drive it anymore. He told me it wasn't up to me who got to drive my car. It wasn't my say anymore, even though the car was in my name and my dad's name, and my dad was still paying the car off at the time, and was paying for the insurance. 10. I was painting the dining room/war room/file room when my dad called. He wanted to take me to a movie. I had to ask Candace and Therese if I could go, because they would have to finish 'my' work for me. Candace almost said no because she was in the living room watching TV and we all know how important that is. I ended up finishing it myself when I got back anyway. 11. I was headed to bed one night when Chris stopped me. He told me Bryce wanted me to paint the bathroom downstairs before I went to bed. It was after 9:30, and we had to get up to train at 4:30. I was up until after 1 painting and was still woken up at 4 the next day to train because staying up late was 'no excuse'. 12. Bryce always told us that the body could operate on five hours of sleep, so we weren't going to get any more than that. We would get up at four and when we finished training at six we'd wait up for him in the living room, trying to stay awake until he got up, usually around eight. He would also go to bed earlier than everyone, telling us we could go to bed when we were done with our work. 13. While I was dating David, my dad got me a new camera. I loaned it to Bryce about a week after I got it so they could use it for the books. It was never returned. I attended the Gathering a little while after I moved out to take pictures (using the same camera). While we were at the waterfall, my camera was stolen. Bryce made me go buy a new one and give it to him because he couldn't use mine anymore. 14. One year at the Homage, Bryce and several other black sashes went to a strip club. He tried to force David to go, telling him it wouldn't bother me, and that he was being 'silly'. 15. At the Homage one year, Bryce called David downstairs at Anthony's house. He apparently didn't come down fast enough, because Bryce tried to hit him as he came down the stairs. David blocked him. Bryce got angry and said 'you don't block me, if I want to hit you I'll hit you!'. He then grabbed David and threw him off the stairs into the living room. 16. One night while Bryce and Jay were out of town, Therese's granddad wanted to take her to a movie. All the work for the day was done and we were just relaxing. She couldn't get in touch with Bryce to ask his permission so she didn't go, even though we all told her she should just do it. She was scared she would get in trouble if she went without permission. She cried for a long time in the living room. 17. Another night when Bryce and Jay were out of town, leaving just David, Therese, Candace, and myself at the dojo, Candace came into mine and David's room. She was very upset and wanted our advice. She talked for hours about how Bryce never made time for her and how she felt taken advantage of. She said every time she tried to talk to him about it he would either brush her aside and say they'd talk later or get really upset with her. She said she knew her relationship was never going anywhere and that it would always be the same. She cried for a long time while we tried to comfort her. We told her that if she felt that way she should leave him. She said if he was anyone else she would leave him, but that he was Shidoshi, and you can't break up with Shidoshi. That night David meditated with all of us in the living room. Afterwards Therese and I were feeling and experiencing things on a supernatural level, and sharing it with Candace. She got scared because she couldn't sense any of it and called Bryce, hoping he would make her feel better. He yelled at David for a long time, telling us we were all probably going to die that night. And yet, here we are. 18. Right before everyone moved up to Tennessee, Candace came to Greg and asked him for his financial information: bank accounts and passwords and balances and etc. He told her he wasn't comfortable giving that out. She went to Bryce about it. He came downstairs and yelled at Greg for a while, telling him that he had to trust them and if he wanted to be a part of things he was going to have to be open with them. Greg was finally pressured into giving up the information. 19. At the conclave the year they had the large dojo in Cookeville, there was a weapons rack on a sliding door. Some of the staffs on the rack weren't on right and when Therese slid the door closed behind her, part of the tip of one of the slots broke off. Bryce called everyone together, ripped the rack off the door, broke it into pieces, threw the weapons everywhere, and told us all to fix it. 20. One year at the Homage, Beth and I were forced to drink alcohol under threat of demotion. We were both underage and did not wish to drink. Upon expressing this we were told by Bryce that if we didn't go get something to drink that we would both be made Senpai. Lies 1. Bryce has told David that he is fluent in Japanese. He then told me that he never said that he was fluent in Japanese and I believed him because he never said it to me. However, I do remember him asking if 200 phrases in a language is enough to be fluent. I told him that no, you would need to know a lot more about a language before you could be considered fluent. 2. In 2004, before going back to school, I volunteered some money to pay for the books. $5800 to be precise. I was told that the balance would be paid back within three months, but failing that, within a year. It has now been almost 5 years and I have yet to be reimbursed. To prove that there was no intent to pay me back, Bryce has gone so far as to give the books away to people and not even make them pay $10 for them so that I will eventually recoup the money that I am owed. The balance on my Credit Card has now ballooned to over $6700. 3. As mentioned in the abuse examples, Bryce has decided to claim that cutting off the tip of your pinky is a great way for ninjas to show they're sorry. Unfortunately for that theory, the Yakuza also use the same practice. I became worried about this as he met with the Yakuza when in Japan the last time he was there and so I asked about it. He said that the Yakuza got it from the ninjas. The only hole in this theory is that what good is a peasant who's secretly a ninja if he can be easily identified by his missing pinky joint. 4. Another lie is one that he used on the individuals that live here at Koyama. I called him and told him how Dan's first fight when. He lost, but he impressed his sponsor so much that he has been allowed to stay in the pro fight circuit. Bryce didn't think much of that the first time I talked with him about it. The second time I talked with him about it, he had predicted that scenario exactly and was awesome because of it. The only problem is that if that were true, it would have been brought up the first time. 5. Once while Dan was here he was forced to call Bonnie and demote her to Musha. The reason is irrelevant. It happened and I think it was !!!!!!!!. It was Bryce trying to manipulate Dan into thinking that he had nowhere else to go. But that was not the end of it. A few days or weeks later, Dan was told that Sean had called and said that Dan was no longer welcome in their house. Upon hearing this I called Bonnie and Sean as soon as I could. What I found was that Sean never called and said anything of the sort. It was total !!!!!!!!. Lies according to Kevin Posey I spoke with Bryce about how Bonnie thought that the style should be small and private and not public and asked why that was not an option. I was told that the style had government problems the last time they tried that and that I should call Master Posey, he would tell me all about it. Long story short, I did and what I found out is mind boggling. I asked Kevin about the exact situation that I've described above and his response was that the whole thing was !!!!!!!!. Bryce never had any problems with the government until they found out he was printing his own money. Now, for those of you paying attention, Kevin Posey just said that Bryce Dallas was printing his own money. That's right! Not only did he lie about the style not being able to be small and boldly at that suggesting I call someone to verify who would not, but he has lied to everyone about his involvement in the counterfeiting. Apparently he had a shoebox of fake bills in his closet. I was floored. I had to know more and so the conversation continued. After Bryce was arrested, the law enforcement officers that took him back to Mississippi informed him that Bryce has never been in the military. He was in ROTC in college and that was the extent of his experience. Kevin backed this up by saying that he never saw anything that would make him believe that Bryce has ever been in the military. So, all those stories about his military days and training: Lies. There's another story that is told about him being a covert operative in South America. Well, he mentioned to Dan that he worked with Dan's father in the military. Turns out, Dan's father has never met him and neither have any of the guys that worked with him. Imagine that. So, I asked about the style and what he believes about its history. He told me that he has never seen any proof nor anything that would make him believe that the style is 800 years old or that Bryce learned it in Japan. He conceded that the techniques and the strategy works against other martial art styles that he has, but he is convinced that the current story is !!!!!!!!. When asked about the pictures of Saija on the website, he told me that he had been told that Saija was wheelchair bound and since the guy in the pictures is standing, he thinks that it's not actually the teacher. So, for those of you who have ever been told that Kevin is pro Bryce and pro style, surprise, it is !!!!!!!!. Kevin described the current situation in the style to a T without me having to give him any details: Bryce is broke and has no money. Everyone who lives with him works long days on construction for nothing. Nobody is getting any training. There are always about three plans going on that are just about to make enough money to put the style on the forefront of everything awesome, but it just never happens. He is convinced that giving money to the style while Bryce is in charge is like throwing your money in a black hole. He said specifically that he is not in the style because of Bryce and will not come back as long as he is involved. Take that for what it's worth. I paraphrased the abuse stories mentioned above and he said that maybe things had gotten worse, but it sounded a lot like what it was like living with Bryce before and it will continue to be that way. He agreed with me that nothing is worth a meaningless life and living with Bryce is the same. He said that no one will get their training completed and even if you could, it's not worth it. -------------------------------------------- The following letters of retirement were submitted by the members mentioned: -------------------------------------------- I paula herrington ishee do hereby officially retire from konigun ninjutsu, because i never wanted to be a part of the damn thing in the first place. I want you to know you never for an instant had me fooled, i knew you were a lier and a fraud, and now so does everyone else. -------------------------------------------- To whom it may concern: I hope that to whom ever is reading this that it finds you well. I feel that I need to clear some things up as to the reason that i am doing this. I never thought that i would find my self in the position where i would no longer be a part of the fraternal order that i have become so close to and that i have quite literally put my blood sweet and tears in to to help grow and make better. This decision does not come easy and is made with a heavy heart. For too long i have been under the water and i feel like now is the time for me to come up for air. I have recently come by some information that makes it hard for me to continue on the path that i have chosen so far. For too long things have not been what they may seem. I have put my trust and the trust of my family in the hands of the leadership of this style and it has been proven to be a very bad choice on my part. Although i have not been in the style as long as others i feel like there are few among the circle who have been as devoted and faithful as i have. In the past i have had my moments of doubt but i suppressed them with the notion that, in time, things will be made clear and that i must remain faithful. I use the term faithful because there have been few things in my life that i have taken as seriously as that of the position that i have ascended to. Undoubtedly by now there has been those who have addressed the issues as to why they have chosen to leave. The biggest reasons for me are the deception and lies concerning the money printing and the reasons for shidoshi going to prison, the origins of the style, misappropriation of funds, and the use of former black sashes for the betterment of "stories" used to captivate people in the hopes that it will keep them hooked. This organization has changed me for the better since i have been apart of it. It has made me a stronger and more confident person. But that is what the style, konigun ninjutsu, is supposed to do. I, like many others, have defended the onslaught of ridicule that has been hurled at us and instead of coming out victorious, as we thought, we were duped. Now i am not without an open mind. However, i do feel that at this point that if there is a valid explanation for these things that i as well everyone else deserve to hear them. It is my hope that one day in the future these problems can be reconciled and we all can push forward with the same goal in mind. It is with these hopes that i have chosen to keep my sash and my medallion as i have heard others will be returning the ones they have. I feel that i have worked for both of these and have earned the right to retain them. It was not my intention to hurt the style or any one who still wishes to remain among its numbers. The day that i walked through the doors on my first day of class was one of the best choices that i have ever made. It is just my opinion we have swayed from our original goals and have let them fall by the way side. I do not pretend to know everything nor do i understand the decisions that have been made that have brought us here. It is my hope that one day i can return and have my faith restored in a once glorious idea. I still feel that there remains the original principles that drew us all in the first place. I have met many great and diversified people that i would never have had the opportunity other wise. As i have mentioned before, there is much that i hope for. Because it is with hope that i end this letter. Again, may this find you well. Vio con dios. Sincerely, Thomas Medina. -------------------------------------------- Dan thinks this is too soft and gives Bryce too much to work around to being positive, however it is honest, thorough, and the truth as I see it. Hi Zach, Per our conversation, I have some things I would like to add to my email in March from my official retirement. Since I am sure my original retirement email will be used to attempt to create arguments against what I am about to say, I have gone ahead and provided you with all of the documentation. ----"Per previous emails and conversations, I am retiring. I spoke with Meijin about this back in January, and agreed to wait until February when Meijin was to come here and have this conversation face to face. We are now moving into April, and I believe that it is a waste of money for you to travel this far to have a conversation. I have mulled it over and over, and have come to the decision that this is what I really want to do. "---- I agonized over this. My two trips down to camps last summer were due to my concern over Bryce's behavior and the happenings on the hill. During those two trips I had several people speak to me about their concerns, citing allegations of emotional and physical abuse. My hope was to convince Bryce to come live in my house and work on his health, as I have had serious concerns over his health. The issues Bryce has had with his diabetes are capable of having caused serious mental and emotional repercussions in addition to the physical. At that point,I still had enough faith in both Bryce and Jay (as well as myself) to believe that I could make a difference, and do as an "elder" of the style should to help protect the knowledge, the progression, and continue to learn. At the end of that trip, after Bryce said he would consider coming to MA to work on his own health, he told me he would come to stay when Sean finished his grids. This let me know unequivocally that he had no intentions of giving up his hold and coming to better himself. He was using my concern as a lever. The few that I trusted and spoke with on this tried to convince me to stay. It was my feeling at that time that I had done everything I could, and my hope that my retirement would open the eyes of those left and assist in making the change that is so desperately needed. Interestingly, most of those people are in the group that is currently retiring. ----"Please know that I am doing this via email to make it as unemotional as possible. I have been very up front about my feelings and opinions on things. I am having serious anxiety attacks these days over multiple things, as the pressure of school, work, and family has all come down very hard recently. When added to that, Konigun is also a part of my anxiety. I am taking my life back, wiping a lot of people and things out of it, and refocusing. I am sorry that Konigun is one of those things, I believe that it will be a part of me forever, but based on the stress level and anxiety it is of necessity one of those things in my life I am putting aside."---- As far as this last paragraph goes, it is true. I was very up front on my feelings and problems during a phone conversation with Jay in January. I told him of my concerns regarding Bryce's behavior. I do not believe I have ever been as disappointed and saddened in my entire life as I was when Jay rationalized everything I said and blamed it on Dan, Jason, and Therese and the stress they had been causing at the hill. Interestingly, prior to their leaving, conversations between me and Bryce had been that everything was going swimmingly and was peachy. What I will say now, that I could not bring myself to say in March, is that my opinions and feelings on what has been happening over the last several years on the hill are that Bryce has not changed in the many years that I have known him. He is as manipulative and dangerous as he was 20 years ago. At that time I was young, and I believe I was saved by the fact that Bryce went to prison and I had the opportunity to go to college and become an adult out from under his influence. I am a strong person, and always have been, but I thought that Konigun was what I wanted and I was so sure that I even gave it another run 10 years later. Sarah, are you listening?? Jay will say that I am disrespectful. I will argue that I am honest. If I did not love Konigun I would not have come back. My experiences from one physically abusive marriage, and one emotionally abusive marriage, have taught me that it is possible to love something that is bad for you. Konigun - the style, the knowledge, what it has taught me - has been invaluable in my life. The things I wrote in the Constitution came from my heart. Unfortunately, since I wrote it I have been unable to defend it from the actions that have been taken at camps and in the style. Love, honor, integrity, truth. None of us is innocent or perfect, but I no longer can convince myself to believe it is the goal to promote that within Konigun. ----"I have already communicated to my students my intent to retire, as well as Sean's. Meiyo John has picked up with teaching classes here in New England. He is going strong, all of the students are training with him, and I have told him that if he needs my support with something I will help him out. It is not my intention to cause the downfall of all of the NE students, and I will do my best to make sure that they all prosper for as long as they choose to train in Konigun. I will let you know when I ship things out. I believe I have been clear about my reasoning here. I am going to ask that you give me a little space. If you have questions for me, please put them in email. Again, this is more of an attempt on my part to reduce stress and anxiety on all levels. I am not saying I will never speak with one of you real time, and I will try to call you soon, but I am at the point where verbal conversations about everything happening within Konigun causes me stress I cannot afford to deal with right now."---- The reasons I gave for my retirement were truth, however they were softened as I was having issues of my own that were stress and anxiety driven. My actions were built of self preservation at the time. I have worked through several of my issues, and it is time to come clean on this as well. I have felt guilty and cowardly for not saying all of this to begin with. I have guilt over having let Dan go to the hill, knowing that Bryce would not pay him, and having serious doubts that he would be trained or be put in the fighting circuit. I allowed it to happen despite my doubts. It has done damage to Dan, and it has done damage to my integrity. Despite what has occurred at camps and in the style, again I believe what I wrote and I do my damndest to live up to it. Bryce and Jay will attempt to lay a lot of this at Dan's feet. What can be laid at Dan's feet is that he is honest. That he refuses to allow people to hide from truth, even when it is uncomfortable for them. That he refuses to take the easy way out of anything, and speaks his mind and does what he believes is right. He is not always right, nor is he perfect, but he is extremely good at holding a mirror in front of someone and forcing them to see - and that alone is the reason that Bryce has attempted to make him the sacrificial lamb in all of this. It has been my observation over the last few years that the only people who stay around Dan for any length of time are those who are willing to accept themselves for who they are. Kevin Posey has given confirmation on many things recently that I thought I remembered but was unsure. I have no doubt that Konigun is real, that it works. Even if I thought Bryce had made it up I wouldn't care, for those reasons. I have used it on the street and it has saved my life more than once. That said, I have serious doubts over the history and past that Bryce has given it. It's a shame, because those doubts cast doubt over the entirety. The level of teaching, both what is taught and how things are taught, have degenerated badly. It is somehow now all about the manuals and money...supporting the hill...instead of teaching people to be really, really good at Konigun. When I was young, Bryce did take us to tournaments, I can remember him taking my gold sash and handing me a black belt, and me winning. We really did kick ass. Sadly, I do not see the same level of knowledge, dedication, or toughness from most of the students since I returned. Tracy Stephens said the same thing and suffered for it. Bryce finally broke down and yelled once about not wanting to hear how it used to be. Unfortunately, those stories never would have come around if students now felt they were receiving the same level of training we did then. Now, we go to camps and black sashes deny a rank because the student cannot uphold it, and it gets awarded anyway despite the feedback of people who are supposed to be senior black sashes. It has become a feel good style taught to as many people as possible to make money, instead of a way of life meant to teach survival. I sat at a camp once, and read a letter Jay had written (which I believe is still in the front of the constitution). It talked about Konigun as if she were a living entity. That letter meant a lot to me. Deep down, there is the potential for Konigun to be salvaged, but not in the direction it is going. Bryce needs to teach Jay exclusively, and teach him everything, and needs to retire, Jay needs to think long and hard about where HE wants Konigun to go. I am saddened that through what I believe is manipulation and a hunger for power, it looks like the style will die with Bryce. I am asking as someone who has had Konigun as a part of my life for 2/3 of it, 20 years, for those with the knowledge to pass it on, step aside, and let it live. I cannot and will not come back, but I love it enough to hope that it survives. Others will take different positions, but I believe we all know I've never been much of a follower, I am heartbroken over all of this, and have been working through it for a year now. I am fallible, and still need to work on myself, but feel better for having said what needs to be said. It truly saddens me that when Bryce wrote the response below to my retirement, I felt like he meant it. But now, I feel like it was a manipulative response to keep me in the wings for when I may be of some use in the future. I can't say whether that is truth or not, only my perception. Good luck tomorrow. Regards, Bonnie From: Shidoshi Dallas [mailto:ceo@konigunninjutsu.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 2:11 PM To: Bonnie Specht Subject: Re: Retiring Hello Bonnie and Sean, I understand that family is a must. i, as well as, all at the hill support your move and love you very much. We and I are here if you need us. Please keep us in the loop of children, health, college, and other endeavors. Do not be stressed over this, for we are not disappointed in your decision to be great parents, and educate yourself and things in general. You will be well missed but not forgotten. I left a message of the same on your cell phone, in person. The group here is sending a letter to Dan and crew, through you, I hope you will read it and pass it along. It would mean alot to me. Please call or write. Love and respect, Your Friend and teacher, Shidoshi -------------------------------------------- This is my official notice of retirement. This has been a long time coming the reasons for my retirement are, this is not the style it was represented to be when i joined. You asked me a long time ago if i would ever quit, if i had known this style is 100 to 1 !!!!!!!! to fun, that you get mad and throw temper tantrums when you don't get your way, insult everyone around you, destroy the selfesteem of those you control, those you hold down, those you hurt. You are a lier and not a very good one i have seen through your !!!! for years, so have alot of people, but i held on with the idea that i might still learn something. But i figured out your game, there is nothing left to learn because your full of !!!!, and i have a family and a life and i just dont have the time to play your games anymore. What did you expect, asking for a lifetime commitment from a 16 year old, but thats because you have to go after teenagers, if i had seen the real world before i met you i would have seen through you then. Whatever it is you know, at least the parts you didn't make up, it isn't worth living under your thumb. What is it you like to say i'd rather live a day on my feet than a lifetime on my knees, well i'm standing up. I am retired untill such time as you, bryce dallas are no longer assiciated with konigun any more and maybe longer. Im tired of having to be at the beckon call of a 500 pound 3 year old with self control problems. You are not to call me, you are not to text me, you are not to email me, and you are not welcome at my home. You are the stain that turns what could be a great thing into a trap for the young and the gullible, and i will not be a part of it. You will not use me to find your new victims. Im not out to destroy anyone or anything, but i will not help you hurt anyone else. -David -------------------------------------------- This is my official resignation from the wayward abusive cult known Konigun. Unfortunately the style is effective, but the power hungry, selfish, manipulative people that run it are far too concerned only with themselves and retaining power to the detriment of all others. I have recently learned that Bryce was never in the military, merely ROTC in college. This combined with the overwhelming evidence of so many other lies and manipulations are just too much to handle. He promises you everything, with the intention of delivering nothing. Only to continue to feed his own egotistical infatuations at the expense of everyone around him who he claims to care about. Bryce Dallas is just a con man and a bad person. And I pity him, and all who buy into his lies. Karma's a bitch, Dan Ford Legal Disclaimer: The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential. It is intended to be read only by the individual or entity to whom it is addressed or by their designee. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are on notice that any distribution of this message, in any form, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete or destroy any copy of this message -------------------------------------------- All IT based administrative functions have been passed to Chris Greene. He will also now be in charge of the webmaster, faq, generalquestions, and factorfantasy email accounts. Again, the list of grievances is by no means exhaustive, but is a good representation of why we have all chosen to live outside the bounds of konigun. To anyone who wishes to have further information or just to have confirmation of these stories: feel free to contact me. Do not call me if your sole purpose is to convince me to come back to the style. -- Zach To all in the art and all that know me: Greetings, I hope that this missive finds you all in good health and good cheer. I will get straight to the point and not beat around the bush. For the last few years (2002) I have been having thoughts of doing what these brave people here have done. I was not in a position to do so at the time and was not for a long time. I truly believe that it was by Gods divine hand that I had to go into the hospital and go through all of that pain to get me to where I need to be in my life. I believe that the pain I went through is the pain I caused all of you for all of those years, I put you through this. I have found out recently that I have the gift of prophecy. It is not in the way that you are thinking that I will be going around tell people what is going to happen, but that of preaching. I believe that the Lord, my God may be drawing me down that road. I know that Shidoshi will be talking about me, he will be saying things about my faith, that I have been brainwashed, that maybe it was maybe the Masons that had a hand in me doing what I am doing. Iím sure that he will be saying that he knows all about Masonry, that his father was a Mason, and that we are really some kind of cult that brainwash people. We worship the devil, we control everything, from the government, to the price of gas. But ask yourself this, if that was the case, would Obama be president right now? Would a bunch of rich white men put a black man in office? I donít think so? Anywho, things have just now been brought to my attention that I did not know at the time. I have found out though sources that I do not wish to revel, that Shidoshi did some things to my oldest daughter. Now of course this will be turned around, on Stasya, because she is slow, and of a low I.Q, but you must ask yourself if more than one person makes the same statement and they have not talked is it true or is it a lie? He (Shidoshi) has made all of us an unwilling partner of his crimes. This is how he keeps us from going to the police. He knows that if we do, not only will he go to jail but so will we. He also keeps a tight control on the money, always looking for ways to make it, yes, but as soon as it is in it is gone to pay bills from years gone by. Therefore by doing that and getting free labor from the people that live with him, he keeps them bound to him with no way out; thereby they have to ahear to his abuse. I write this now to ask for forgiveness from all of the people that I have brought into the art. I have always tried to have a positive attitude in everything I do. Sometimes though you just have to throw your hands up and turn your back on the ones that will not listen. You know Jesus said to turn the other cheek, I have turned the other cheek with Shidoshi so much and looked the other way while he did things that I knew in my heart was wrong that my neck is sore and my heart is broken. Some things can not be fixed no matter how hard you try. The art works, donít get me wrong, I whole hearty believe in the art, but just like the Nazi party that in all reality worked great, but the whole time it was the leader of the party that was the problem. So now I as forgiveness from all of my students and all of the black belts that I taught along the way, it you can find it in your hearts to forgive me, thank you. I know that people will talk bad about me and my family and about us, but you know what, I donít care. Words are like water on a ducks back, they just roll off. It will just be his little group and in all of the years that I have known him it has never gone as far as that little group and it never will. We will go on with our lives, we will raise our families, go to our jobs, be happy, and have good feelings about ourselves. He on the other hand will be going day to day fight to pay one bill after another, wondering who is the next one that will leave. 10 years from now if we ever see him again and he is still alive, he will still be sitting on the couch or in a chair moving some papers from one place to another, trying to make a dollar here and there. He will still have that same negative attitudeAthat he has always had deep down inside. I pray that he finds peace one day and finds agape love and happiness. I really do pray that the Lord my God will watch over him and be with him. Robert H Nichols Robert H Nichols

Please Reformat the letter and provide proof. Also, if true not only are these people sick:
Here are my opinion's why:
1) Retiring? Cop out. How about you quit?
2) If it was a cult why are you saying the art is effective?
3) Please go learn the meaning of turn the other cheek?
4) Nazi party worked great?

You need to forward the allegations to the police.

Allegations concerning my daughter?

**** that ****. My ass is going to jail for my culpability if, it concerns my daughter. Some of these people, if any of the statements are proven, are full of ****.

Hey folks, ease up, I simply posted the information as I got it. I have another copy of information that I took directly from their website. But, if you go to that website now, it is all under construction (translated, it has been taken down). The verification is simply that I heard that they had posted several letters to their website. I reviewet on 8-8-09, downloaded the notes and the next day, there was no website. The initial information I posted here was from another forum, which I cannot mention, and it was a copy of what had been posted to their website earlier. I posted what I had, as I found it, so lighten up a bit. My greater concern was noted above, if these people are telling the truth, they are legally and morally obligated to contact law enforcement, crimes against children have apparently been committed. How do you get rid of cockroaches? Turn on all the lights and find them. That was the intent of the first post, to get the lights on. And just for the record, I am one of the ones they sued twice, so my stake in this is much higher than most others and I would have no reason to lie or manipulate information. Besides, as you can see from my first posting, I am not all that good at electronic stuff anyway.

As requested

This information was copied directly from the Konigun ninjitsu website on 8-8-09. It appears here as it appeared on that website. By 8-9-09, this information and the entire website was gone, replaced with an under construction notice. It is unclear as to who the first person is, who was apparently the webmaster for them. All that follows is directly from the persons who resigned:

I

gave you until August 13 to get a new website together and you decided instead to start getting into my accounts and stealing my website. Reap what you sow.

To everyone else:

I am upset because I have paid for this website and I have built the entire thing. I have never been compensated for any of it. This was my work and I don't want Bryce using it to further his "style." I was nice enough to hand over email privileges and I am upset because he has had his minions use those privileges to begin getting into accounts I have used for this website and taking them over. I tried to be nice and my generosity was taken advantage of. Now on to the main event:

14 Black Sashes have retired since January of 2009. Here are some retirement letters that were written for officiality:

Dan Ford

This is my official resignation from the wayward abusive cult known as Konigun. Unfortunately the style is effective, but the power hungry, selfish, manipulative people that run it are far too concerned only with themselves and retaining power to the detriment of all others. I have recently learned that Bryce was never in the military, merely ROTC in college. This combined with the overwhelming evidence of so many other lies and manipulations are just too much to handle. He promises you everything, with the intention of delivering nothing. Only to continue to feed his own egotistical infatuations at the expense of everyone around him who he claims to care about. Bryce Dallas is just a con man and a bad person. And I pity him, and all who buy into his lies.

Karma's a bitch,
Dan Ford

David Ishee

This is my official notice of retirement. This has been a long time coming the reasons for my retirement are, this is not the style it was represented to be when i joined. You asked me a long time ago if i would ever quit, if i had known this style is 100 to 1 bullshit to fun, that you get mad and throw temper tantrums when you don't get your way, insult everyone around you, destroy the selfesteem of those you control, those you hold down, those you hurt. You are a lier and not a very good one i have seen through your **** for years, so have alot of people, but i held on with the idea that i might still learn something. But i figured out your game, there is nothing left to learn because your full of ****, and i have a family and a life and i just dont have the time to play your games anymore. What did you expect, asking for a lifetime commitment from a 16 year old, but thats because you have to go after teenagers, if i had seen the real world before i met you i would have seen through you then. Whatever it is you know, at least the parts you didn't make up, it isn't worth living under your thumb. What is it you like to say i'd rather live a day on my feet than a lifetime on my knees, well i'm standing up. I am retired untill such time as you, bryce dallas are no longer assiciated with konigun any more and maybe longer. Im tired of having to be at the beckon call of a 500 pound 3 year old with self control problems. You are not to call me, you are not to text me, you are not to email me, and you are not welcome at my home. You are the stain that turns what could be a great thing into a trap for the young and the gullible, and i will not be a part of it. You will not use me to find your new victims. Im not out to destroy anyone or anything, but i will not help you hurt anyone else. -David

Robert Nichols

To all in the art and all that know me:

Greetings, I hope that this missive finds you all in good health and good cheer. I will get straight to the point and not beat around the bush. For the last few years (2002) I have been having thoughts of doing what these brave people here have done. I was not in a position to do so at the time and was not for a long time. I truly believe that it was by Gods divine hand that I had to go into the hospital and go through all of that pain to get me to where I need to be in my life. I believe that the pain I went through is the pain I caused all of you for all of those years, I put you through this. I have found out recently that I have the gift of prophecy. It is not in the way that you are thinking that I will be going around tell people what is going to happen, but that of preaching. I believe that the Lord, my God may be drawing me down that road. I know that Shidoshi will be talking about me, he will be saying things about my faith, that I have been brainwashed, that maybe it was maybe the Masons that had a hand in me doing what I am doing. Iím sure that he will be saying that he knows all about Masonry, that his father was a Mason, and that we are really some kind of cult that brainwash people. We worship the devil, we control everything, from the government, to the price of gas. But ask yourself this, if that was the case, would Obama be president right now? Would a bunch of rich white men put a black man in office? I donít think so?

Anywho, things have just now been brought to my attention that I did not know at the time. I have found out though sources that I do not wish to revel, that Shidoshi did some things to my oldest daughter. Now of course this will be turned around, on Stasya, because she is slow, and of a low I.Q, but you must ask yourself if more than one person makes the same statement and they have not talked is it true or is it a lie?

He (Shidoshi) has made all of us an unwilling partner of his crimes. This is how he keeps us from going to the police. He knows that if we do, not only will he go to jail but so will we. He also keeps a tight control on the money, always looking for ways to make it, yes, but as soon as it is in it is gone to pay bills from years gone by. Therefore by doing that and getting free labor from the people that live with him, he keeps them bound to him with no way out; thereby they have to ahear to his abuse.

I write this now to ask for forgiveness from all of the people that I have brought into the art. I have always tried to have a positive attitude in everything I do. Sometimes though you just have to throw your hands up and turn your back on the ones that will not listen. You know Jesus said to turn the other cheek, I have turned the other cheek with Shidoshi so much and looked the other way while he did things that I knew in my heart was wrong that my neck is sore and my heart is broken. Some things can not be fixed no matter how hard you try. The art works, donít get me wrong, I whole hearty believe in the art, but just like the Nazi party that in all reality worked great, but the whole time it was the leader of the party that was the problem. So now I as forgiveness from all of my students and all of the black belts that I taught along the way, it you can find it in your hearts to forgive me, thank you.

I know that people will talk bad about me and my family and about us, but you know what, I donít care. Words are like water on a ducks back, they just roll off. It will just be his little group and in all of the years that I have known him it has never gone as far as that little group and it never will. We will go on with our lives, we will raise our families, go to our jobs, be happy, and have good feelings about ourselves. He on the other hand will be going day to day fight to pay one bill after another, wondering who is the next one that will leave. 10 years from now if we ever see him again and he is still alive, he will still be sitting on the couch or in a chair moving some papers from one place to another, trying to make a dollar here and there. He will still have that same negative attitudeAthat he has always had deep down inside. I pray that he finds peace one day and finds agape love and happiness. I really do pray that the Lord my God will watch over him and be with him.

Robert H Nichols

Shiloh Nichols

To Who May Concern:

Not being a Black Sash, I know a resignation from me is not important but being married to a Black Sash I had to face the abuse. I feel that must state what myself and my family faced at the hands of Bryce Dallas. There is so much that it is hard to know where to begin.

When I first met Bryce was on October 31, 1999. He was severely obese and had a serious infection in his legs that caused drainage that would soak a bath towel in minutes. I had just moved in with the man I was to marry, Robert Nichols. Robert had a foster child name Jake, who was living with Bryce in Tenn. Jake was a rebellious 16 year old teenager. Robert had asked Bryce to help with Jake so Bryce took Jake. Now I know he only used Jake as a slave. Jake tried to fight back but I personally witness Bryce beat Jake until he would follow orders. Bryce told me that the only way to get children to do what they were told was by physical punishment.

Less than a year after that Bryce had told my husband to quit his good job and start a martial arts school. He did and we moved into a house Bryce had built in West, MS. Due to where the house was located, I decided to home school my daughters. My daughters were 3rd grade and 5th grade level. He made me teach them Chemistry that was way above their level. While teaching multiplication tables he made me and my husband punish the girls with a bamboo sword. We would have to hit the girls the amount of the problem, example if they got 9x9 wrong we would have to hit them 81 times with the bamboo sword. I tried to take my children away from this and I was told that I had to stay because nobody would take us in and that I had no way of getting any where. I was planning to walk from West, MS to Pearl, MS with 3 small children to get away from him. He made my husband take my newborn son away from me and told me that I would never see him again if I walked out that door. He used my helpless child to force me to stay. There was many other times that things like above have happened.

When they got the school in Jackson opened. I tried to help out in the office with the accounting. I had went to school for accounting before I met my husband or Bryce. Bryce told me that my job was to stay home and be a sexual pleasure for my husband and to keep house. He said a womanís job is to be a slave to a man and that we were not smart enough to do anything than that. He used the Bible to say that it was a manís divine right by quoting scripture.

On August 25, 2001, the house burnt down in West. Everything we owned was lost! He put us in an apartment in Pearl promising to pay all of our bills and to replace all that we had lost. He did, he bought us a TV, the rest were stuff we found from goodwill or given to us. The man who had very little wanted to make sure that his black belts were the same. So he burnt our nice furniture, and paintings and bed that Robert had built with his own two hands, all of his antiques, all of his memories. As he said he wanted to bring him down to nothing so he could build him back up. To bad he almost killed him in the process.

The apartment in Pearl, that we were not supposed to worry about because he would take care of it we was kicked out less than a year later for non-payment. Bryce than moved us into a house in Brandon, MS with him and 4 other people. Due to Bryce we moved out. We moved to Magee. Robert opened another school there. The school in Magee was doing very well. But Bryce took 90% of all the money made. From that school, Bryce took students to be his new slaves.

Robert had found a job in Hattiesburg so we moved there. Three weeks later, Hurricane Katrina hit. The trailer we were renting was damage bad. We had evacuated to my motherís home. Three days after the hurricane Robert got very sick. We had no home, no job and Robert was in the hospital in a coma. Bryce had told always said that the Konigun would be there for us. So I called Bryce. All I got in help was they got all of our stuff from Hattiesburg and put it in storage and made me pay for it. The only income we had was Social Security for 1 child and child support for another, in total we had $350 a month and he made me pay for a $150 storage unit. When I had no money they only gave me $20 saying that is all they could do. After Robert got out of the hospital and the doctors said that Robert would never be able to do martial arts like he did again, we have only seen Bryce maybe 3 times. In those 3 times he would ask if there was anything we need, we would tell him and he would say he would see what he can do but the next day or later that same day he would say he has an emergency and that he was sorry that he couldnít help us. And we wouldnít hear from him for 6 months or more.

This is an account of what we had to endure that the hands of Bryce Dallas.

I do not wish to have anymore contact with him and I donít want him around my children.

May the Lord help him change from his evil ways.

Shilo Nichols

Paula Ishee

I Paula Herrington Ishee do hereby officially retire from konigun ninjutsu, because I never wanted to be a part of the damn thing in the first place. I want you to know you never for an instant had me fooled, I knew you were a liar and a fraud, and now so does everyone else.

I, Zach Bennett, do hereby resign from this wretched thing I once naively knew as an honorable style. I will speak freely with anyone who wishes to know more about why. kazz0013 at gmail dot com

As requested

As some have asked, I have noted where the information of the first post came from and have gone through and added breaks in the information to make it a bit more readable. However, I have changed nothing within the posts, only separated out the sections and in a few cases underlined or added color to the text to help clarify itl

This is an email that was received by one of the people who was sued by the Konigun group. The email is from Robert Nichols, a former member. Breaks in the various quotes have been added for clarity, otherwise, the information is as it was received.

I

had said in a conversation had at the hill yesterday that I would wait 2 weeks to send out this email. Since then I have realized that this would be a mistake and have decided to send it out today. The following individuals have officially retired from the style: Zach Bennett Beth Bennett Ryan Bennett David Ishee Paula Ishee Thomas Medina Kevin Posey Patrick Duckworth Dan Ford Bonnie Specht Sean Cronin Robert Nichols The following is by no means an exhaustive list of problems and grievances. It was compiled by all of us.

Domestic Abuse Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone.

Sexual Abuse: Coercing or attempting to coerce any sexual contact or behavior without consent. Sexual abuse includes, but is certainly not limited to marital rape, attacks on sexual parts of the body, forcing sex after physical violence has occurred, or treating one in a sexually demeaning manner.

Emotional Abuse: Undermining an individual's sense of self-worth and/or self-esteem. This may include, but is not limited to constant criticism, diminishing one's abilities, name-calling, or damaging one's relationship with his or her children.

Economic Abuse: Making or attempting to make an individual financially dependent by maintaining total control over financial resources, withholding one's access to money, or forbidding one's attendance at school or employment.

Psychological Abuse: Causing fear by intimidation; threatening physical harm to self, partner, children, or partner's family or friends; destruction of pets and property; and forcing isolation from family, friends, or school and/or work. Abusers may aim to avoid household chores or exercise total control of family finances. Abusers can be very manipulative, often recruiting friends, law officers and court officials, even the victim's family to their side, while shifting blame to the victim. Gaslighting is an action which, depending on the exact circumstances of the situation involved, could be considered a form of intimidation, torture, harassment, or psychological abuse. It is a technique used to either scare a person, or to cause them to appear to discredit their own judgment or even sanity in front of others. One definition of gaslighting is "an increasing frequency of systematically withholding factual information from, and/or providing false information to, the gaslightee- having the gradual effect of making them anxious, confused, and less able to trust their own memory and perception." Relational aggression, also known as covert bullying is a type of aggression in which harm is caused through damage to relationships or social status within a group rather than physical violence.
Gossip - Where the abuser tells others personal information about the victim.
Lies - Where the abuser lies about the victim to others.
Betrayal - Where the abuser breaks agreements with the victim.
Isolation - Where the abuser prevents the victim from socializing with the victim's friends.
Exclusion - Where the abuser prevents the victim from socializing with the abuser's friends.
Humiliation - Where the abuser humiliates or shames the victim in front of others.

These are some of the warning signs that may indicate abuse: Physical harm of any kind Attempts to control aspects of an individual's life (e.g., how one dresses, who one's friends are, what one says, etc.) Humiliation Coercing and/or threats of physical harm to an individual or those close to him/her. Demands to know where an individual is at all times Growing up witnessing an abusive relationship, and/or was abused as a child An individual "rages" when they are hurt, shamed, or are in jeopardy of losing control in the relationship. Honeymoon phase Characterized by affection, apology, and apparent end of violence, with assurances that it will never happen again. During this stage the abuser feels overwhelming feelings of remorse and sadness, or pretends to. Some abusers walk away from the situation, but most shower their victims with love and affection. There may be self harming by the abuser to gain sympathy from the victim and threats of suicide if the victim leaves are common. Abusers are frequently so convincing, and victims so eager for the relationship to improve that victims, who are often worn down and confused by longstanding abuse, stay in the relationship. Tension building phase Characterized by poor communication, tension, fear of causing outbursts. During this stage the victims try to calm the batterer down, to avoid any major violent confrontations. Acting-out phase Characterized by outbursts of violent, abusive incidents. During this stage the batterer attempts to dominate his/her partner(victim), with the use of domestic violence. Although it is easy to see the outbursts of the Acting-out Phase as abuse, even the more pleasant behaviors of the Honeymoon Phase serve to perpetuate the abuse.

Example Incidents: 1. One night I was walking into the living room and Bryce asked me where David and Therese were. I told her she was downstairs filing and he was working on the computer. I then added in a playful tone "but really they're mostly talking. You know them!". Bryce then shoved the coffee table into the entertainment center, breaking the doors. He yelled that he was tired of all the backstabbing that Candace, Therese, and I had been doing (though this was the first I'd heard of any of it). He called everyone into the living room and told us that because of me, we'd be up all night cleaning and he was going to do a 'military inspection' the next day, and we didn't want to know what he'd do if we failed! He assigned each of us a room so he'd know who to blame if it wasn't right. We stayed up all night cleaning, but he never inspected anything. I remember David and Brian telling me that it was okay, everyone at some point had gotten the whole group punished before, and I shouldn't feel bad.
2. A few days after I moved in, Jay made Candace wait for the bathroom while he took a shower. He had been working all day on Charles Foster's roof and told her that since he'd worked harder and longer than she had, and because he was a Meijin, she had to wait. She, of course, went straight to Bryce and told him what Jay had said. Bryce then called a gurupu and had everyone gather in the living room. (I, though I wasn't actually in Konigun at this point, joined them because I didn't know what else to do) Bryce said he was tired of everyone taking advantage of Candace and he made her Meiyo Shidoshi so everyone HAD to respect her. He was going to make everyone sleep outside while he and Candace slept inside, but, of course, never followed through. I remember Jay cried the next morning.
3. One fine summer day there was a large group of us training downstairs in the store. It was hot so we took a water break. We were all hanging out on the deck out front chatting and drinking our water when Bryce came outside. He yelled at us and accused us of not training at all. He demoted everyone to Hinin except for Brian who he made Shiroto so he could be 'in charge' of all of us. He collected all our sashes and put them on a shelf on the entertainment center and gave us all white sashes. He then made everyone go out into the parking lot out front for PT. Bryce, Chris, and Jay paced around us yelling and belittling us right out there where all the neighbors and people driving by on the highway could see. Beth, Therese, Candace, and I couldn't do 'girl' pushups, we had to be strong and not be 'pussies'. This was the day I moved out.
4. Bryce was sitting in his chair one evening and asked Candace to bring him some sausage. She heated him up a couple of patties and put them on a saucer. She brought it to him with a fork. He tried to use the fork to cut the sausage, but ended up spilling them on this front. He threw his tea into the wall across the room, shattering the mason jar it was in and getting tea and glass everywhere. He made everyone clean it up while he ranted about Candace bringing him such a small plate and 'look at his hands! These are man hands! He couldn't use that little plate! Bring him a real plate! "I'm a man!"'
5. Bryce had recently been describing a Yakuza punishment to people. I had not heard about it yet, nor had several other people, so one night while a bunch of people were over, Bryce decided to have a little fun with us. He started acting angry and got his medallion and a Wakizashi out. He stabbed the wakizashi into the coffee table and hung his medallion from it. He told Greg that he had until the medallion stopped swinging to cut off the tip of his pinkie finger or he'd be killed. Poor Greg didn't have any idea what was going on and sort of laughed a bit like 'Yeah right!'. Bryce really pulled out all the stops then and started really getting angry that Greg wouldn't do what he told him to do. He started warning him that the medallion was slowing down and he'd better hurry up and do it. Greg really looked like he was about to do it when Bryce told him he was joking 'this time'. Everyone kind of laughed it off and Greg was like 'Wow, I was really about to do it!'. Bryce then told us that that was going to be the punishment he used for serious transgressions.
6. David was riding with Jay, Bryce, and Candace on the way up to MA for a camp (this is before David moved in). Bryce told Jay to pull over because he had to go to the bathroom. Jay pulled over on an exit and Bryce got out. He peed on his pants. He yelled at Jay, blaming him because he had parked by rocks, and that hurt his feet so he couldn't concentrate on what he was doing and he peed too early. He then made Candace clean it up.
7. David, Brian, and I used to eat in the kitchen because there wasn't room for us to sit in the living room. We would chat and sit or lean on the counter while we ate. One day it finally bothered Bryce enough and he yelled at us, telling us that we should be honored to sit on the floor and eat at his feet. We weren't allowed to eat in the kitchen anymore.
8. One night Bryce got up in the middle of the night and went into the kitchen. Someone had left a piece of food out. Bryce got everyone up and made them go out back to do PT. For about an hour he had Brian and David doing worm crawls in the ditch in the rain with Candace and Therese on their backs, in several inches of water. The whole time he was kicking water at them and yelling at them, threatening to pee in the water (among other things).

9. While I lived there, Therese drove my car to work. One day she drove it into the house. I told Bryce I didn't want her to drive it anymore. He told me it wasn't up to me who got to drive my car. It wasn't my say anymore, even though the car was in my name and my dad's name, and my dad was still paying the car off at the time, and was paying for the insurance.
10. I was painting the dining room/war room/file room when my dad called. He wanted to take me to a movie. I had to ask Candace and Therese if I could go, because they would have to finish 'my' work for me. Candace almost said no because she was in the living room watching TV and we all know how important that is. I ended up finishing it myself when I got back anyway.
11. I was headed to bed one night when Chris stopped me. He told me Bryce wanted me to paint the bathroom downstairs before I went to bed. It was after 9:30, and we had to get up to train at 4:30. I was up until after 1 painting and was still woken up at 4 the next day to train because staying up late was 'no excuse'.
12. Bryce always told us that the body could operate on five hours of sleep, so we weren't going to get any more than that. We would get up at four and when we finished training at six we'd wait up for him in the living room, trying to stay awake until he got up, usually around eight. He would also go to bed earlier than everyone, telling us we could go to bed when we were done with our work.
13. While I was dating David, my dad got me a new camera. I loaned it to Bryce about a week after I got it so they could use it for the books. It was never returned. I attended the Gathering a little while after I moved out to take pictures (using the same camera). While we were at the waterfall, my camera was stolen. Bryce made me go buy a new one and give it to him because he couldn't use mine anymore.
14. One year at the Homage, Bryce and several other black sashes went to a strip club. He tried to force David to go, telling him it wouldn't bother me, and that he was being 'silly'.
15. At the Homage one year, Bryce called David downstairs at Anthony's house. He apparently didn't come down fast enough, because Bryce tried to hit him as he came down the stairs. David blocked him. Bryce got angry and said 'you don't block me, if I want to hit you I'll hit you!'. He then grabbed David and threw him off the stairs into the living room.
16. One night while Bryce and Jay were out of town, Therese's granddad wanted to take her to a movie. All the work for the day was done and we were just relaxing. She couldn't get in touch with Bryce to ask his permission so she didn't go, even though we all told her she should just do it. She was scared she would get in trouble if she went without permission. She cried for a long time in the living room.
17. Another night when Bryce and Jay were out of town, leaving just David, Therese, Candace, and myself at the dojo, Candace came into mine and David's room. She was very upset and wanted our advice. She talked for hours about how Bryce never made time for her and how she felt taken advantage of. She said every time she tried to talk to him about it he would either brush her aside and say they'd talk later or get really upset with her. She said she knew her relationship was never going anywhere and that it would always be the same. She cried for a long time while we tried to comfort her. We told her that if she felt that way she should leave him. She said if he was anyone else she would leave him, but that he was Shidoshi, and you can't break up with Shidoshi. That night David meditated with all of us in the living room. Afterwards Therese and I were feeling and experiencing things on a supernatural level, and sharing it with Candace. She got scared because she couldn't sense any of it and called Bryce, hoping he would make her feel better. He yelled at David for a long time, telling us we were all probably going to die that night. And yet, here we are.

18. Right before everyone moved up to Tennessee, Candace came to Greg and asked him for his financial information: bank accounts and passwords and balances and etc. He told her he wasn't comfortable giving that out. She went to Bryce about it. He came downstairs and yelled at Greg for a while, telling him that he had to trust them and if he wanted to be a part of things he was going to have to be open with them. Greg was finally pressured into giving up the information.
19. At the conclave the year they had the large dojo in Cookeville, there was a weapons rack on a sliding door. Some of the staffs on the rack weren't on right and when Therese slid the door closed behind her, part of the tip of one of the slots broke off. Bryce called everyone together, ripped the rack off the door, broke it into pieces, threw the weapons everywhere, and told us all to fix it.
20. One year at the Homage, Beth and I were forced to drink alcohol under threat of demotion. We were both underage and did not wish to drink. Upon expressing this we were told by Bryce that if we didn't go get something to drink that we would both be made Senpai.

Lies
1. Bryce has told David that he is fluent in Japanese. He then told me that he never said that he was fluent in Japanese and I believed him because he never said it to me. However, I do remember him asking if 200 phrases in a language is enough to be fluent. I told him that no, you would need to know a lot more about a language before you could be considered fluent.
2. In 2004, before going back to school, I volunteered some money to pay for the books. $5800 to be precise. I was told that the balance would be paid back within three months, but failing that, within a year. It has now been almost 5 years and I have yet to be reimbursed. To prove that there was no intent to pay me back, Bryce has gone so far as to give the books away to people and not even make them pay $10 for them so that I will eventually recoup the money that I am owed. The balance on my Credit Card has now ballooned to over $6700.
3. As mentioned in the abuse examples, Bryce has decided to claim that cutting off the tip of your pinky is a great way for ninjas to show they're sorry. Unfortunately for that theory, the Yakuza also use the same practice. I became worried about this as he met with the Yakuza when in Japan the last time he was there and so I asked about it. He said that the Yakuza got it from the ninjas. The only hole in this theory is that what good is a peasant who's secretly a ninja if he can be easily identified by his missing pinky joint.
4. Another lie is one that he used on the individuals that live here at Koyama. I called him and told him how Dan's first fight when. He lost, but he impressed his sponsor so much that he has been allowed to stay in the pro fight circuit. Bryce didn't think much of that the first time I talked with him about it. The second time I talked with him about it, he had predicted that scenario exactly and was awesome because of it. The only problem is that if that were true, it would have been brought up the first time.
5. Once while Dan was here he was forced to call Bonnie and demote her to Musha. The reason is irrelevant. It happened and I think it was !!!!!!!!. It was Bryce trying to manipulate Dan into thinking that he had nowhere else to go. But that was not the end of it. A few days or weeks later, Dan was told that Sean had called and said that Dan was no longer welcome in their house. Upon hearing this I called Bonnie and Sean as soon as I could. What I found was that Sean never called and said anything of the sort. It was total !!!!!!!!. Lies according to Kevin Posey I spoke with Bryce about how Bonnie thought that the style should be small and private and not public and asked why that was not an option. I was told that the style had government problems the last time they tried that and that I should call Master Posey, he would tell me all about it. Long story short, I did and what I found out is mind boggling. I asked Kevin about the exact situation that I've described above and his response was that the whole thing was !!!!!!!!. Bryce never had any problems with the government until they found out he was printing his own money. Now, for those of you paying attention, Kevin Posey just said that Bryce Dallas was printing his own money. That's right! Not only did he lie about the style not being able to be small and boldly at that suggesting I call someone to verify who would not, but he has lied to everyone about his involvement in the counterfeiting. Apparently he had a shoebox of fake bills in his closet. I was floored. I had to know more and so the conversation continued.
After Bryce was arrested, the law enforcement officers that took him back to Mississippi informed him that Bryce has never been in the military. He was in ROTC in college and that was the extent of his experience. Kevin backed this up by saying that he never saw anything that would make him believe that Bryce has ever been in the military. So, all those stories about his military days and training: Lies. There's another story that is told about him being a covert operative in South America. Well, he mentioned to Dan that he worked with Dan's father in the military. Turns out, Dan's father has never met him and neither have any of the guys that worked with him. Imagine that. So, I asked about the style and what he believes about its history. He told me that he has never seen any proof nor anything that would make him believe that the style is 800 years old or that Bryce learned it in Japan. He conceded that the techniques and the strategy works against other martial art styles that he has, but he is convinced that the current story is !!!!!!!!.
When asked about the pictures of Saija on the website, he told me that he had been told that Saija was wheelchair bound and since the guy in the pictures is standing, he thinks that it's not actually the teacher. So, for those of you who have ever been told that Kevin is pro Bryce and pro style, surprise, it is !!!!!!!!.
Kevin described the current situation in the style to a T without me having to give him any details: Bryce is broke and has no money. Everyone who lives with him works long days on construction for nothing. Nobody is getting any training. There are always about three plans going on that are just about to make enough money to put the style on the forefront of everything awesome, but it just never happens. He is convinced that giving money to the style while Bryce is in charge is like throwing your money in a black hole. He said specifically that he is not in the style because of Bryce and will not come back as long as he is involved. Take that for what it's worth. I paraphrased the abuse stories mentioned above and he said that maybe things had gotten worse, but it sounded a lot like what it was like living with Bryce before and it will continue to be that way. He agreed with me that nothing is worth a meaningless life and living with Bryce is the same. He said that no one will get their training completed and even if you could, it's not worth it.

The following letters of retirement were submitted by the members mentioned:

I paula herrington ishee do hereby officially retire from konigun ninjutsu, because i never wanted to be a part of the damn thing in the first place. I want you to know you never for an instant had me fooled, i knew you were a lier and a fraud, and now so does everyone else

To whom it may concern: I hope that to whom ever is reading this that it finds you well. I feel that I need to clear some things up as to the reason that i am doing this. I never thought that i would find my self in the position where i would no longer be a part of the fraternal order that i have become so close to and that i have quite literally put my blood sweet and tears in to to help grow and make better. This decision does not come easy and is made with a heavy heart. For too long i have been under the water and i feel like now is the time for me to come up for air. I have recently come by some information that makes it hard for me to continue on the path that i have chosen so far. For too long things have not been what they may seem. I have put my trust and the trust of my family in the hands of the leadership of this style and it has been proven to be a very bad choice on my part. Although i have not been in the style as long as others i feel like there are few among the circle who have been as devoted and faithful as i have. In the past i have had my moments of doubt but i suppressed them with the notion that, in time, things will be made clear and that i must remain faithful. I use the term faithful because there have been few things in my life that i have taken as seriously as that of the position that i have ascended to. Undoubtedly by now there has been those who have addressed the issues as to why they have chosen to leave. The biggest reasons for me are the deception and lies concerning the money printing and the reasons for shidoshi going to prison, the origins of the style, misappropriation of funds, and the use of former black sashes for the betterment of "stories" used to captivate people in the hopes that it will keep them hooked. This organization has changed me for the better since i have been apart of it. It has made me a stronger and more confident person. But that is what the style, konigun ninjutsu, is supposed to do. I, like many others, have defended the onslaught of ridicule that has been hurled at us and instead of coming out victorious, as we thought, we were duped. Now i am not without an open mind. However, i do feel that at this point that if there is a valid explanation for these things that i as well everyone else deserve to hear them. It is my hope that one day in the future these problems can be reconciled and we all can push forward with the same goal in mind. It is with these hopes that i have chosen to keep my sash and my medallion as i have heard others will be returning the ones they have. I feel that i have worked for both of these and have earned the right to retain them. It was not my intention to hurt the style or any one who still wishes to remain among its numbers. The day that i walked through the doors on my first day of class was one of the best choices that i have ever made. It is just my opinion we have swayed from our original goals and have let them fall by the way side. I do not pretend to know everything nor do i understand the decisions that have been made that have brought us here. It is my hope that one day i can return and have my faith restored in a once glorious idea. I still feel that there remains the original principles that drew us all in the first place. I have met many great and diversified people that i would never have had the opportunity other wise. As i have mentioned before, there is much that i hope for. Because it is with hope that i end this letter. Again, may this find you well. Vio con dios. Sincerely, Thomas Medina.

Dan thinks this is too soft and gives Bryce too much to work around to being positive, however it is honest, thorough, and the truth as I see it. Hi Zach, Per our conversation, I have some things I would like to add to my email in March from my official retirement. Since I am sure my original retirement email will be used to attempt to create arguments against what I am about to say, I have gone ahead and provided you with all of the documentation. ----"Per previous emails and conversations, I am retiring. I spoke with Meijin about this back in January, and agreed to wait until February when Meijin was to come here and have this conversation face to face. We are now moving into April, and I believe that it is a waste of money for you to travel this far to have a conversation. I have mulled it over and over, and have come to the decision that this is what I really want to do. "---- I agonized over this. My two trips down to camps last summer were due to my concern over Bryce's behavior and the happenings on the hill. During those two trips I had several people speak to me about their concerns, citing allegations of emotional and physical abuse. My hope was to convince Bryce to come live in my house and work on his health, as I have had serious concerns over his health. The issues Bryce has had with his diabetes are capable of having caused serious mental and emotional repercussions in addition to the physical. At that point,I still had enough faith in both Bryce and Jay (as well as myself) to believe that I could make a difference, and do as an "elder" of the style should to help protect the knowledge, the progression, and continue to learn. At the end of that trip, after Bryce said he would consider coming to MA to work on his own health, he told me he would come to stay when Sean finished his grids. This let me know unequivocally that he had no intentions of giving up his hold and coming to better himself. He was using my concern as a lever. The few that I trusted and spoke with on this tried to convince me to stay. It was my feeling at that time that I had done everything I could, and my hope that my retirement would open the eyes of those left and assist in making the change that is so desperately needed. Interestingly, most of those people are in the group that is currently retiring. ----"Please know that I am doing this via email to make it as unemotional as possible. I have been very up front about my feelings and opinions on things. I am having serious anxiety attacks these days over multiple things, as the pressure of school, work, and family has all come down very hard recently. When added to that, Konigun is also a part of my anxiety. I am taking my life back, wiping a lot of people and things out of it, and refocusing. I am sorry that Konigun is one of those things, I believe that it will be a part of me forever, but based on the stress level and anxiety it is of necessity one of those things in my life I am putting aside."---- As far as this last paragraph goes, it is true. I was very up front on my feelings and problems during a phone conversation with Jay in January. I told him of my concerns regarding Bryce's behavior. I do not believe I have ever been as disappointed and saddened in my entire life as I was when Jay rationalized everything I said and blamed it on Dan, Jason, and Therese and the stress they had been causing at the hill. Interestingly, prior to their leaving, conversations between me and Bryce had been that everything was going swimmingly and was peachy. What I will say now, that I could not bring myself to say in March, is that my opinions and feelings on what has been happening over the last several years on the hill are that Bryce has not changed in the many years that I have known him. He is as manipulative and dangerous as he was 20 years ago. At that time I was young, and I believe I was saved by the fact that Bryce went to prison and I had the opportunity to go to college and become an adult out from under his influence. I am a strong person, and always have been, but I thought that Konigun was what I wanted and I was so sure that I even gave it another run 10 years later. Sarah, are you listening?? Jay will say that I am disrespectful. I will argue that I am honest. If I did not love Konigun I would not have come back. My experiences from one physically abusive marriage, and one emotionally abusive marriage, have taught me that it is possible to love something that is bad for you. Konigun - the style, the knowledge, what it has taught me - has been invaluable in my life. The things I wrote in the Constitution came from my heart. Unfortunately, since I wrote it I have been unable to defend it from the actions that have been taken at camps and in the style. Love, honor, integrity, truth. None of us is innocent or perfect, but I no longer can convince myself to believe it is the goal to promote that within Konigun. ----"I have already communicated to my students my intent to retire, as well as Sean's. Meiyo John has picked up with teaching classes here in New England. He is going strong, all of the students are training with him, and I have told him that if he needs my support with something I will help him out. It is not my intention to cause the downfall of all of the NE students, and I will do my best to make sure that they all prosper for as long as they choose to train in Konigun. I will let you know when I ship things out. I believe I have been clear about my reasoning here. I am going to ask that you give me a little space. If you have questions for me, please put them in email. Again, this is more of an attempt on my part to reduce stress and anxiety on all levels. I am not saying I will never speak with one of you real time, and I will try to call you soon, but I am at the point where verbal conversations about everything happening within Konigun causes me stress I cannot afford to deal with right now."---- The reasons I gave for my retirement were truth, however they were softened as I was having issues of my own that were stress and anxiety driven. My actions were built of self preservation at the time. I have worked through several of my issues, and it is time to come clean on this as well. I have felt guilty and cowardly for not saying all of this to begin with. I have guilt over having let Dan go to the hill, knowing that Bryce would not pay him, and having serious doubts that he would be trained or be put in the fighting circuit. I allowed it to happen despite my doubts. It has done damage to Dan, and it has done damage to my integrity. Despite what has occurred at camps and in the style, again I believe what I wrote and I do my damndest to live up to it. Bryce and Jay will attempt to lay a lot of this at Dan's feet. What can be laid at Dan's feet is that he is honest. That he refuses to allow people to hide from truth, even when it is uncomfortable for them. That he refuses to take the easy way out of anything, and speaks his mind and does what he believes is right. He is not always right, nor is he perfect, but he is extremely good at holding a mirror in front of someone and forcing them to see - and that alone is the reason that Bryce has attempted to make him the sacrificial lamb in all of this. It has been my observation over the last few years that the only people who stay around Dan for any length of time are those who are willing to accept themselves for who they are. Kevin Posey has given confirmation on many things recently that I thought I remembered but was unsure. I have no doubt that Konigun is real, that it works. Even if I thought Bryce had made it up I wouldn't care, for those reasons. I have used it on the street and it has saved my life more than once. That said, I have serious doubts over the history and past that Bryce has given it. It's a shame, because those doubts cast doubt over the entirety. The level of teaching, both what is taught and how things are taught, have degenerated badly. It is somehow now all about the manuals and money...supporting the hill...instead of teaching people to be really, really good at Konigun. When I was young, Bryce did take us to tournaments, I can remember him taking my gold sash and handing me a black belt, and me winning. We really did kick ass. Sadly, I do not see the same level of knowledge, dedication, or toughness from most of the students since I returned. Tracy Stephens said the same thing and suffered for it. Bryce finally broke down and yelled once about not wanting to hear how it used to be. Unfortunately, those stories never would have come around if students now felt they were receiving the same level of training we did then. Now, we go to camps and black sashes deny a rank because the student cannot uphold it, and it gets awarded anyway despite the feedback of people who are supposed to be senior black sashes. It has become a feel good style taught to as many people as possible to make money, instead of a way of life meant to teach survival. I sat at a camp once, and read a letter Jay had written (which I believe is still in the front of the constitution). It talked about Konigun as if she were a living entity. That letter meant a lot to me. Deep down, there is the potential for Konigun to be salvaged, but not in the direction it is going. Bryce needs to teach Jay exclusively, and teach him everything, and needs to retire, Jay needs to think long and hard about where HE wants Konigun to go. I am saddened that through what I believe is manipulation and a hunger for power, it looks like the style will die with Bryce. I am asking as someone who has had Konigun as a part of my life for 2/3 of it, 20 years, for those with the knowledge to pass it on, step aside, and let it live. I cannot and will not come back, but I love it enough to hope that it survives. Others will take different positions, but I believe we all know I've never been much of a follower, I am heartbroken over all of this, and have been working through it for a year now. I am fallible, and still need to work on myself, but feel better for having said what needs to be said. It truly saddens me that when Bryce wrote the response below to my retirement, I felt like he meant it. But now, I feel like it was a manipulative response to keep me in the wings for when I may be of some use in the future. I can't say whether that is truth or not, only my perception. Good luck tomorrow. Regards, Bonnie From: Shidoshi Dallas [mailto:ceo@konigunninjutsu.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 2:11 PM To: Bonnie Specht Subject: Re: Retiring Hello Bonnie and Sean, I understand that family is a must. i, as well as, all at the hill support your move and love you very much. We and I are here if you need us. Please keep us in the loop of children, health, college, and other endeavors. Do not be stressed over this, for we are not disappointed in your decision to be great parents, and educate yourself and things in general. You will be well missed but not forgotten. I left a message of the same on your cell phone, in person. The group here is sending a letter to Dan and crew, through you, I hope you will read it and pass it along. It would mean alot to me. Please call or write. Love and respect, Your Friend and teacher, Shidoshi

This is my official notice of retirement. This has been a long time coming the reasons for my retirement are, this is not the style it was represented to be when i joined. You asked me a long time ago if i would ever quit, if i had known this style is 100 to 1 !!!!!!!! to fun, that you get mad and throw temper tantrums when you don't get your way, insult everyone around you, destroy the selfesteem of those you control, those you hold down, those you hurt. You are a lier and not a very good one i have seen through your !!!! for years, so have alot of people, but i held on with the idea that i might still learn something. But i figured out your game, there is nothing left to learn because your full of !!!!, and i have a family and a life and i just dont have the time to play your games anymore. What did you expect, asking for a lifetime commitment from a 16 year old, but thats because you have to go after teenagers, if i had seen the real world before i met you i would have seen through you then. Whatever it is you know, at least the parts you didn't make up, it isn't worth living under your thumb. What is it you like to say i'd rather live a day on my feet than a lifetime on my knees, well i'm standing up. I am retired untill such time as you, bryce dallas are no longer assiciated with konigun any more and maybe longer. Im tired of having to be at the beckon call of a 500 pound 3 year old with self control problems. You are not to call me, you are not to text me, you are not to email me, and you are not welcome at my home. You are the stain that turns what could be a great thing into a trap for the young and the gullible, and i will not be a part of it. You will not use me to find your new victims. Im not out to destroy anyone or anything, but i will not help you hurt anyone else. -David

This is my official resignation from the wayward abusive cult known Konigun. Unfortunately the style is effective, but the power hungry, selfish, manipulative people that run it are far too concerned only with themselves and retaining power to the detriment of all others. I have recently learned that Bryce was never in the military, merely ROTC in college. This combined with the overwhelming evidence of so many other lies and manipulations are just too much to handle. He promises you everything, with the intention of delivering nothing. Only to continue to feed his own egotistical infatuations at the expense of everyone around him who he claims to care about. Bryce Dallas is just a con man and a bad person. And I pity him, and all who buy into his lies. Karma's a bitch, Dan Ford Legal Disclaimer: The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential. It is intended to be read only by the individual or entity to whom it is addressed or by their designee. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are on notice that any distribution of this message, in any form, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete or destroy any copy of this message

All IT based administrative functions have been passed to Chris Greene. He will also now be in charge of the webmaster, faq, generalquestions, and factorfantasy email accounts. Again, the list of grievances is by no means exhaustive, but is a good representation of why we have all chosen to live outside the bounds of konigun. To anyone who wishes to have further information or just to have confirmation of these stories: feel free to contact me. Do not call me if your sole purpose is to convince me to come back to the style. Ė

Zach To all in the art and all that know me: Greetings, I hope that this missive finds you all in good health and good cheer. I will get straight to the point and not beat around the bush. For the last few years (2002) I have been having thoughts of doing what these brave people here have done. I was not in a position to do so at the time and was not for a long time. I truly believe that it was by Gods divine hand that I had to go into the hospital and go through all of that pain to get me to where I need to be in my life. I believe that the pain I went through is the pain I caused all of you for all of those years, I put you through this. I have found out recently that I have the gift of prophecy. It is not in the way that you are thinking that I will be going around tell people what is going to happen, but that of preaching. I believe that the Lord, my God may be drawing me down that road. I know that Shidoshi will be talking about me, he will be saying things about my faith, that I have been brainwashed, that maybe it was maybe the Masons that had a hand in me doing what I am doing. Iím sure that he will be saying that he knows all about Masonry, that his father was a Mason, and that we are really some kind of cult that brainwash people. We worship the devil, we control everything, from the government, to the price of gas. But ask yourself this, if that was the case, would Obama be president right now? Would a bunch of rich white men put a black man in office? I donít think so? Anywho, things have just now been brought to my attention that I did not know at the time. I have found out though sources that I do not wish to revel, that Shidoshi did some things to my oldest daughter. Now of course this will be turned around, on Stasya, because she is slow, and of a low I.Q, but you must ask yourself if more than one person makes the same statement and they have not talked is it true or is it a lie? He (Shidoshi) has made all of us an unwilling partner of his crimes. This is how he keeps us from going to the police. He knows that if we do, not only will he go to jail but so will we. He also keeps a tight control on the money, always looking for ways to make it, yes, but as soon as it is in it is gone to pay bills from years gone by. Therefore by doing that and getting free labor from the people that live with him, he keeps them bound to him with no way out; thereby they have to ahear to his abuse. I write this now to ask for forgiveness from all of the people that I have brought into the art. I have always tried to have a positive attitude in everything I do. Sometimes though you just have to throw your hands up and turn your back on the ones that will not listen. You know Jesus said to turn the other cheek, I have turned the other cheek with Shidoshi so much and looked the other way while he did things that I knew in my heart was wrong that my neck is sore and my heart is broken. Some things can not be fixed no matter how hard you try. The art works, donít get me wrong, I whole hearty believe in the art, but just like the Nazi party that in all reality worked great, but the whole time it was the leader of the party that was the problem. So now I as forgiveness from all of my students and all of the black belts that I taught along the way, it you can find it in your hearts to forgive me, thank you. I know that people will talk bad about me and my family and about us, but you know what, I donít care. Words are like water on a ducks back, they just roll off. It will just be his little group and in all of the years that I have known him it has never gone as far as that little group and it never will. We will go on with our lives, we will raise our families, go to our jobs, be happy, and have good feelings about ourselves. He on the other hand will be going day to day fight to pay one bill after another, wondering who is the next one that will leave. 10 years from now if we ever see him again and he is still alive, he will still be sitting on the couch or in a chair moving some papers from one place to another, trying to make a dollar here and there. He will still have that same negative attitudeAthat he has always had deep down inside. I pray that he finds peace one day and finds agape love and happiness. I really do pray that the Lord my God will watch over him and be with him. Robert H Nichols Robert H Nichols